Coin collector



April 14, 1936- P. E. MILLS ET AL COIN COLLECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 COIN RETURN Filed July 11, 1955 IItI ZI/IIIIIIIIII/IIIIIII nagnun 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII4 I? E. MILLS INI/ENTORS- a A. SHANN ATTORNEY April 14, 1936. P. E. MILLS ET AL COIN COLLECTOR Filed July 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E UIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII:

PEM/LLS WVENTORS'QASHANN 2 1.1.. W- M A! 1 N m E.

FIG. 5

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1936 COIN COLLECTOR Percy E. Mills, Towaco, N. J and,0scar A. Shaun; Bayside, N. Y., assignors to Bellv Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a. corporation" of New York ApplicationiJuly 11-, 1935, Serial No. 30,788.:

5 Claims.

This-invention relates to coin collectors, particularlyrefund: chutes for use with such apparatusaat a telephone pay station.

In:telephone coin collectors'rof the prepayment type .as=disc1osed,.for example, in the O. F. Forsbergs'U. S. Patent 1,043,219, itisusualtotemporarily' retain deposited coins upon a coin trap within a coin hopper and subsequently discharge the-coinsiinto-acollect chute leading to a cash compartmentor into a refund chute: depending upon: whether the desired telephone connection is secured. The refundchute extends from the coin' hopper to anopening in a vertical wall of thezcoin collector housing; and immediately behind: and below this opening a coin pocket is formed in the refund chute where the discharged coins may bereadily recovered by the subscriber; It is customary to provide a baffle plate extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upperedge of'the refund opening in the housing totprevent tamperingwith the coin refund mechanisnrthrough: the refund chute. An escutcheon plate isalso generally provided external of the housing and surrounding the refund opening to improve its appearance.

Such a coin collector when in service, particularly in: exposed locations, frequently requires the refinishing or. replacing the escutcheon plate and the coin. pocketin order to maintain a satisfactory'external. appearance. Refund chutes for telephone coincollectors as heretofore constructedzhave'had the escutcheon plate, the baflle, the top; bottom and side walls of the chute of separateparts suitably assembled and supported by the housing. With such a construction it is necessary to take the entire instrument to a repair. shop and dismantle it whenever the es- 'cutcheon; plate or the bottom wall of the refund chute requires refinishing or replacement.

An object of this invention is to simplify the construction and reduce the cost of manufactureof a coin' collector refund chute while'per mitting replacement of certain parts thereof with only a slight interruption in service.

In accordance with a preferredform of this invention the-main refund chute for a telephone coin collector. is made of only two separate portions,.each of which may comprise a one-piece die casting. One portion may comprise the upper. part ofthe refund chute leading from the coin hopper downwardly to a point adjacent the bafiieand the. coin pocket. The other portion may. comprise the escutcheon plate, the baffle, thecoinapocket and the side walls therefor. The upper portion may be more or less permanently attachedtosupports within the housing while the .lowerfportion, may be fastened to the upper portion by any suitable means. Thus, the lower portion may be held in place by a screw in a bracket attached to the bottom wall of the upper portion-.of'. the refund chute. Such a fastening screw .in the usual type of coin collector as shown' in the above-mentioned Forsberg patent may be readily accessible by opening the cash compartment door-which is located adjacent the refund. chute. opening. By removing this screw the lowerportion of the refund chute with the bafiie and escutcheon plate may be removed through the. refund opening in the lower hous ing and a new lower portion inserted through said opening and fastened in place with only a slight interruption in the service rendered by the coin collector.-

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a side view of a telephone coin collector with aportion of aside wall removed to disclose thegeneral location of the refundchute of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an. enlarged front view of the refund chute opening in the lower housing and the flange surrounding. the same;

Fig. 3 isan enlarged side view in section of the refund chute;

Fig; 4- is similartoFig. 3 except that the front portion of the refundchute is shown partially removed from thehousing;

Fig. 5 is a rearvi'ew of the refund chute taken along the line:5.-5'of. Fig. 3; and

' Fig. 6 is a. top plan View taken along the line 6-45 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 1' discloses a telephone coin collector'of the general type described in the above-mentioned Forsberg patent. A coin after deposit in the coin gauge Ill passes through a coin chute I I and is temporarily held ina coin hopper I2 for subsequent collection or deposit. If for any reason the user ofthe instrument is entitled to a refund of the deposited: com a polarized relay I3 is operated ina well-knownmanner to direct the coin into a refund chute leading to an opening 28 in the front wall I5 of the lower housing I6. The present. invention is concerned with the construction of this refund. chute which is shown more clearly in the figures subsequent to Fig. 1.

When the pivoted coin trapinot' shown) within the coin hopper I2 is actuatedto coin refunding position, the coin as described inthe Forsbergpatent slides down the bottom wall IT of the coin hopper (Fig. 5), passes. the shutter I8 and falls into the upper part of the refund chute, sliding down bottom wall I9 thereof until it reaches a coin pocket ZG-Where it may be recovered-by means of finger opening I4.

The'upper section 22 of the refund chute has at its upper'end a side wall opening registering with the coin refund opening: of 'coin hopper I2 and the lower endof this section 22' terminates in an opening 2I. Section 22 is mounted within the collector housing by a horizontal flange 23 fastened by screws to the bottom of the usual mechanism tray 24.

The lower section 25 of the refund chute has an opening 26 registering with opening 2| in the upper section and the other end of section 25 comprises an opening M with a flange 21 external of the housing and covering the edges of the refund opening 28 in the lower housing so that flange 21 serves as an escutcheon plate for said opening. The upper wall of section 25 has a downwardly and rearwardly inclined extension 29 to partially close the chute above coin pocket so as to conceal the upper part of the refund chute from opening l4 thereby serving the same function as the usual baffle plate.

As previously stated, it is preferable that the lower section of the refund chute be mounted within the housing in such a way that an old lower section may be replaced by a new lower section with a minimum of service interruption at such times, for example, as when the external flange 2? or coin pocket 20 has become badly tarnished. One mounting arrangement for the lower section is disclosed in the drawings. The

upper chute section 22 has a downwardly pro jecting bracket 36 through which a fastening screw 32 passes into a rearwardly projecting shoulder 3| on the back wall of the lower chute section, the two sections being so dimensioned that when screw 32 is in place flange 21 is held firmly against the edge of opening 28 in the front wall of the lower housing. Hence no other screws or rivets will be required to hold flange 2! in place as is the case with the usual 1 escutcheon plate which forms a part separately mounted from the refund chute proper.

When it is desired to remove the lower chute section from a coin collector in service screw 32 may be made easily accessible by removing the door from the adjacent cash compartment opening 33. When screw 32 has been loosened by a tool inserted through opening 33 the entire lower section 25 of the refund chute may be removed through opening 28 in the lower housing and a new part readily inserted through the same opening 28 and fastened in place by screw 32. Fig. 4 shows the lower section 25 partially removed from the lower housing.

It will, therefore, be readily understood that the lower section 25 by means of the construction of this invention may be removed and a new lower section substituted therefor in a relatively short interval of time and without the necessity of removing the entire collector to a repair shop to make the replacement.

In order to simplify manufacture, each chute section 22, 25 may be a one-piece die casting although other forms of construction may be used if desired.

What is claimed is:

1. A coin collector comprising a housing having a refund opening in a vertical wall thereof, a coin hopper for receiving deposited coins and a refund chute leading from said hopper to said opening, the lower portion of said chute comprising a coin pocket formed in said chute adjacent and below said opening, a baffle plate extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upper edge of said opening to form a partial closure between said opening and said hopper, and an escutcheon flange external of said housing and surrounding said opening, said lower portion with said pocket, said flange and said bafiie being of unitary construction, and means for removably fastening said lower portion in place as a continuation of the upper portion of said chute, said lower portion being removable through said opening when said fastening means is released.

2. In combination, a coin collector housing having a refund opening in a vertical wall thereof, a coin hopper within said housing for receiving deposited coins, a refund chute of a plurality of sections leading from said hopper to said opening, the parts of each section being integral with each other, one of said sections comprising a coin well adjacent said opening, an escutcheon plate external of said housing and surrounding said opening, and a baflle plate extending downwardly and rearwardly from the upper edge of said opening, and means located solely within said housing for fastening said one section in place as a continuation of another section of said chute, said one section being removable through said opening when said fastening means is released.

3. In combination, a coin collector housing having a refund opening in a vertical wall thereof, a coin hopper within said housing for receiving deposited coins, a refund chute comprising an upper section and a lower section to provide a coin passage from said hopper to said opening, said lower section comprising a one-piece die casting including as parts of the same casting a coin well adjacent said opening and a bafile plate extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upper edge of said opening, and means located solely within said housing for fastening said lower section in place as a continuation of said upper section, said lower section 'being removable through said opening when said fastening means is released.

4. A coin collector comprising a housing having a refund opening in a vertical wall thereof, a coin hopper for receiving deposited coins and a refund chute leading from said hopper to said opening, the lower portion of said chute comprising a coin pocket formed in said chute adjacent and below said opening, a bafiie plate extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upper edge of said opening to form a partial closure between said opening and said hopper, said lower portion with said pocket andsaid baffle being of unitary construction, and means for removably fastening 'said lower portion in place as a continuation of the upper portion of said chute, said lower portion being removable through said opening when said fastening means is released.

5. A coin collector comprising a housing having a refund opening in a vertical wall thereof, a coin hopper for receiving deposited coinsv and a refund chute leading from said hopper to said opening, the lower portion of said chute comprising a coin pocket formed in said chute adjacent and below said opening, and an escutcheon flange external of said housing and surrounding said opening, said lower portion with said pocket and said flange being of unitary construction, and means for removably fastening said lower portion in place as a continuation of the upper portion of said chute, said lower portion being removable through said opening when said fastening means is released.

PERCY E. MILLS. OSCAR A. SHANN. 

